Family
by Idontknowwhatthatmeans32
Summary: Taking the phone from Booth leaves Brennan with no choice but to join him at Thanksgiving with his parents. Cliché I know, but will it bring them together? It's got Parker! Now complete!
1. Brennan Hours

Brennan Hours

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

AN: I've got it mostly written but would like to tweak from feedback I get. Constructive criticism please! I'll try to update a chapter a day.

They had just finished wrapping up a case. After a brief chat with Cam about the case (they hadn't talked to each other about anything but work for several weeks now), Booth went in search of his partner.

"She's in the lab." Angela said, walking past. He almost told her that he wasn't looking for Brennan, but decided that it was useless.

"What's she doing?"

"What do you think? I tried." She said, feeling guilty. The truth was, she hadn't tried that hard. She and Jack had sort of a standing dinner date, and she had cancelled yesterday to make sure Tempe ate while Booth was off doing FBI agent things.

"We just wrapped up the case." He said, swiping his card. The remains she was working on had been cleaned already. He wasn't an expert, but they looked old.

"This is one of the many Jeffersonian projects I have been neglecting lately for my FBI work." Her FBI. He liked the sound of that.

"Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"Maybe if you weren't going to drag me halfway across Virginia at 4:30 tomorrow morning." She looked up for just a second to smile, taking the bite off her comment. It was true, he had woken her before dawn to start this last case.

"Hey, I wasn't any happier about that than you were. And I had to drive."

"I'll drive next time."

"No way, Bones."

"Don't call me Bones." The words came out automatically after all this time.

"Come on. Let's go grab dinner. I can bug you about your manuscript."

"Bug? Never mind. As enjoyable as that sounds, I can get this done before I go home."

"Will it still be today when that happens?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Why do you care?" he shrugged. She had been studying the remains and looked up expectantly.

"I guess – I don't really like the idea of you going to the parking lot alone any more. Especially at night."

"Booth. We caught him." It had been the first in a string of cases that had fallen hard and fast. The whole team had been pulling 'Brennan hours' for the past two weeks.

"I know. But, sometimes human emotion doesn't really follow logical patterns."

"I know." She looked up again and met his eyes. He suddenly forgot what he was going to say.

"Don't stay too late, okay?" he finally decided on.

"Uh-huh." She said, but she was already more focussed on the skeleton than on their conversation.

"And I'll come over on the weekend to read your manuscript, right?"

"Mmm." She agreed. He was halfway out of the lab when she stood and shouted after him.

"Not fair, Booth! You are not reading it!" he just laughed.


	2. A Bad Day

A Bad Day

"Bren, did you pull an all-nighter?" Angela planted one hand on the desk and the other on her hip.

"Mmm, what?" she looked up from the laptop.

"You did, didn't you. I'm calling Booth."

"Don't!"

"Too late." She sang. The cell phone was ringing.

"Booth."

"Brennan needs breakfast."

"She didn't." Angela shoved the phone into Brennan's hand.

"Hi, Booth." She said, a little nervously.

"What did I tell you?"

"I don't know." She stuck the phone between her chin and shoulder and her fingers went back to the keyboard.

"Were you even listening?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You're not listening to me now, are you, Bones?" He emphasized the last word as he pulled into a coffee shop.

"What? Um – okay, you know what Booth? I am not a teenager and you are not my father."

"Don't I know it." He said with more feeling than he had meant to, and then grimaced, but it sailed right past her.

"And you were the one who didn't want me going to my car alone late." She continued.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I'm on my way."

"I told you."

"Hey! It's already," he checked his watch. "7:22. The day's half over."

"This from the man who was still asleep at 11:37?"

"I'll be there in a minute." He flipped the phone shut. She turned Angela's off and passed it back to her owner.

"So, uh, what was that?" Angela grinned at her friend.

"What?"

"You slept over?"

"No! _Ange_. No. I went over on a Saturday to give him some paperwork."

"Ok, whatever you say." She sashayed out with a doubtful look on her face. Booth was not in a good mood when he reached the lab. Rebecca and what's-his-face had gone out last night, so Parker had stayed the night with him. And thrown up until 2:00, not only in the bathroom but once in his bedroom and then in the living room. So now his apartment smelled like puke and antiseptic, and he had had only a few hours of sleep after two weeks of accumulated sleep deprivation before Cullen had called and woken him up, so he had to pack up Parker's things and carry him into the car and take him back to Rebecca's, where what's-his-face had answered the door in nothing but his boxers and a face full of shaving cream. And Rebecca had not been happy, and neither had Cullen when he finally, finally arrived, and there were three messages on his answering machine from his mother that he had been avoiding answering. He had thought, briefly, about taking Cam down this weekend, but his family really wasn't Cam's kind of crowd, and though she was more 'normal', Cam's social skills really weren't that much better than Bones'. She just knew what she was doing when she pissed people off or talked about her job during dinner. Besides, they both knew it was a casual thing, and meeting the parents seemed like it sent the wrong message, and then Cam met what's-his-name (not to be confused with what's-his-face). Not that he had a problem with either of his exes dating other guys, but it sucked that he was going to have to tell his mom that yet another year had passed without any prospects for more grandkids. At least he had Parker this year.

"Hey, Booth. When was this sleepover with Brennan?" Hodgins asked with a grin. Hodgins was grinning a lot lately. Booth added him to his mental list of people to resent before what the entomologist had actually said registered.

"Wait – what?" But he had escaped to his office.

"Rough night?" Angela asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. She followed Hodgins and shut the door. The blinds were drawn. Booth stopped and stared for a second.

"Context?" Brennan asked brusquely. She was in field gear already, with her jacket on and her field bag, she looked none the worse for the wear of (yet another) sleepless night. He tried to add her to his list but found he couldn't. "Booth?"

"Hodgins was asking me something about a sleepover."

"Oh." She blushed. "Well, Ange was in the room when we were on the phone, and, well…" she trailed off lamely.

"Right. Almost forgot." He held up the coffee and the bag containing the muffin. "I thought it was a little early for Thai."

"Thanks." She said, completely without humour. He sighed, but he kind of liked her obliviousness. Was obliviousness a word? Then he caught himself. Who the hell cared? Too much time with squints.

"Come on." He put a hand on her back. He didn't think about it anymore. Had never, really. It just seemed natural. Then one day he caught himself doing it and had realized with surprise that she hadn't kicked his ass yet. That was when he knew that 'Bones' was there to stay. They were in the car, sharing a comfortable silence in which Seeley contemplated the suckiness (That definitely wasn't a word. Oh God.) that was his life of late and Brennan ate and thought about her book. She was having trouble with her Kathy's growing relationship with her partner Andy. Romance wasn't really her thing. Then the phone rang. They both patted their pockets.

AN: Minor cliffhanger, but it's not like you've got long to wait. Which reminds me: I learned everything I know about forensics on this show, so the case is purely ornamental and _really bad._ Seriously, whatever your expectations are, lower them. The plus side is, it'll be wrapped up in about a hundred words. Yay me!

If you don't like fluff, you are so in the wrong story.

I started writing this around the time Gravedigger aired. I'd never written fanfiction, but I don't really get to choose what I write, so here we are. Most of this time has been spent convincing myself to get an account and post this, so I was delighted and flattered by the response the frst chapter got. I'll never hold chapters for ransom for reviews, but it's nice, especially at the beginning, to know that people are interested. (I was a lurker for months, so I understand that too). Thank you very much, I hope you keep reading and enjoying it. And that I'll never write an author's note as long as this one again.


	3. From Bad to Worse

From Bad to Worse

AN: I will not continue to be this much of a pushover! But here it is early. I rewatched Woman in Limbo after I had written in the family and realized that for some strange reason, I imagined Booth as growing up in some stereotypical southern small town, with pageants and football. So .. sorry. Buyt I decided to continue the way I'd been going, since I have no idea what Pittsburghians (?) are like, and I just basically wrote characters for Brennan to interact with. Even if Booth's mom doesn't seem like the kind of woman who would write jingles.

They were in the car, sharing a comfortable silence in which Seeley contemplated the suckiness (That definitely wasn't a word. Oh God.) that was his life of late and Brennan ate and thought about her book. She was having trouble with her Kathy's growing relationship with her partner Andy. Romance wasn't really her thing. Then the phone rang. They both patted their pockets.

"Mine." Booth said, opening it without checking the caller id. He regretted it instantly, but later would come to be grateful for the slip. "Booth." He sighed mentally. "Hi Mom."

"Dumpling, you haven't returned any of my calls. Is your answering machine broken?"

"Uh, no, Mom, I've just been really busy. With work. Lots of cases, you know."

"Well, I need to know how many people are coming so I can cook." He bit back a word he definitely didn't want to say to his mother as another car cut him off. "What? I can't hear you, sweetheart. Is this connection bad?"

"No, Mom. Sorry. I'm driving." He said quickly, before she could go off on phone companies.

"Oh, the roads today are filled with so many maniacs. I'm just glad-,"

"Me, too, Mom. Look, I'm sorry, but can I call you back? We're on our way to work."

"We?"

"Yes." He was fighting to remain pleasant.

"Well, is Parker coming this weekend?"

"Yes, Mom, he is."

"Wonderful! So there are three of you, then."

"No, Mom."

"Well, what is Rebecca doing?"

"Eating with her boyfriend, Mom. I told you. We haven't been together for a long time." Sort of true. He hadn't noticed Bones listening with interest to his side of the conversation. She grabbed the wheel when he tried to cross his fingers and almost lost control of the car.

"Booth!"

"Who is that?" he mentally cursed his mother's selective hearing.

"That's my partner."

"Well, bring her, Seeley."

"Uh – what?" the car skidded again. Behind them, horns blared.

"I'd like to live." Bones said snarkily and snatched the cell phone.

"I'm sorry, but Booth will have to call you back."

"Who is this?"

"Uh – it's Dr. Brennan." Booth rubbed his eyes, elbows on the wheel.

"That is it. I am driving home." Bones said, covering the phone.

"Well, dear, how about it?"

"Excuse me?"

"This weekend?"

"I don't understand." She looked blankly at Booth.

He snatched the phone back. "She doesn't want to go, Mom."

"Don't want to go where?" Mrs. Booth had lost her patience. Bones watched the grimace on Booth's face for six full minutes as he occasionally opened his mouth and then stopped.

"Okay, Mom. Here you go."

"Hello, Dr. Brennan." She cooed when Brennan, confused, took the phone from Booth. They got out of the car, having reached the crime scene (barely) alive. "Would you join us for dinner this weekend? My son is so hopeless sometimes." She laughed.

"Um – sure. Yes. Fine." She crouched by the remains and juggled the phone between her chin and shoulder as she put rubber gloves on. Booth barely saved it from landing in the maggot-laden body.

"We have to go, Mom. Sure. See you then. Yes, of course I'm looking forward to it. Love you too." He snapped it shut.

"Why did you do that?" he turned on Bones.

"What? I said I'd have dinner this weekend. I have dinner with you all the time. I don't understand the problem."

"How do I say this in a way you'll understand?" he put his hands on his hips and adopted a mocking sing-song voice. "Anthropologically speaking, in modern society, meeting the parents has certain connotations."

"That was good, Booth." She turned in surprise. "In that case, I'll just cancel."

"Oh na na na no. You don't cancel Thanksgiving Dinner at my mother's house. You can't."

"Oh, come on, Booth." She rolled her eyes. She was bent over the body again, but he could tell.

"Hey, you want to try, go ahead. She's a force of nature."

"Fine, then I'll eat dinner. That's what, two hours max? I think we can handle it."

"You said 'max.'."

"It's an abbreviation for maximum. Did I use it improperly?"

"No – I mean yes, just – whatever. Look, Thanksgiving Dinner does not take two hours. Thanksgiving Dinner takes four days."

"Booth."

"This is one of those culture things you're oblivious too. Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas in my family. That's why I get Parker. Well, that, and Rebecca and what's-his-face seem pretty busy."

"I don't know what you mean." She said absently.

"Of course you don't. Look, Bones, you're stuck with us for the weekend and that means being nice to people and no work."

"What? I have to catch up at the Jeffersonian." She stood and faced him.

"Do I need to explain the concept of holiday?" he asked sarcastically.

"Do you two want some privacy?" one of the other agents asked with a chuckle. They turned and glared simultaneously.

"Shut up." Booth added.

"Yeah. Meeting the parents is a big step." Added someone else with a wicked grin.

"We'll finish this later." Booth got out through gritted teeth, turning her back to her work as she tried to explain that she and Booth were not a couple.


	4. Your Bones?

Your Bones?

The case was a quick one, at least in terms of Temperance Brennan's involvement. Dental was fully available and cause of death was apparent. The police officer, squeamish and inexperienced, had been a little hasty to declare the need for a forensic anthropologist. CSI would have done fine. The victim, a young man, died of alcohol poisoning. His friends probably knew about it, had found him dead, and panicked. The local police were to handle that, and by lunch-time, Booth and Brennan were off the case.

"I don't feel much like eating." Booth said, thinking of the maggots.

"Neither do I." Brennan agreed, with a similarly queasy expression.

"Did that bother you?"

"I hate maggots. That's why I don't do skin. I like nice, clean bones. Little squirmy…" she shuddered. "That's Hodgins' thing."

"Well. You going back to the lab, then?"

"I have to if I'm spending the weekend with your family." She smiled wryly at him. "I have ids to do."

"That's two abbreviations in a day and agreeing to spend the weekend with me! And squeamishness! Who are you and what have you done with my Bones?" he laughed as they pulled in.

"Your Bones?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." He said defensively. "I mean, you know."

"See you tomorrow." She said, closing the door. "And try to wait until after eight to call me!" she called back. He let her get ahead of him and then tailed her through the parking lot until he saw her enter the building. As she opened the door, she turned and waved. He sped away like nothing had happened, except there was a foolish grin on his face. That was Wednesday. He didn't see _his_ Bones until lunch the next day, when he walked in unannounced.

"She missed you." Angela told him as she exited Hodgins' office. The blinds were drawn. Booth ignored her as he swiped in and walked up behind Brennan. He stuck his fingers into her sides right below her ribs. Her uncharacteristic squeal caught the attention of everyone in the lab.

"Booth!" she pushed him.

"Get a room!" Hodgins yelled. He had stuck his head out of his office to see what the commotion was.

"Maybe you and Angela could help us with that!" Booth yelled back. Hodgins just grinned and went back to whatever the hell he did when Angela wasn't in his office.

"I'm taking you to lunch." Booth grabbed her arm with his left hand and put his right behind her back and compelled her toward the door. The next thing he knew, he was on his back and his vision was slowly clearing.

"Man, you are so whipped." Hodgins's grin was the first thing he saw clearly as he tried to blink the blackness away.

"Jack!" the whole lab heard Angela. Hell, the people in the museum probably heard Angela.

"Coming!" Hodgins' face disappeared.

"I did feel sorry for you." Booth grumbled as Brennan helped him up. "But now? I'm going to enjoy this weekend."

"I need to finish this. Go away."

"Okay, fine, but I just thought we could talk about packing."

"Packing?"

"Yeah. My parents live in Pittsburgh. Didn't I mention that?"

"I was sorry for hurting you. But now I'm not." Brennan glared.

"Fine. I'm just saying, I'll be by tomorrow at 6:00."

"6:00 am?"

"And make sure you pack some dress thing. My mother loves any excuse to throw a party."

"I'm ignoring you."

"Fine. Make it 5:30."

"What?"

"Hey, I've got Parker. The kid will be bouncing off the walls. I'm not sleeping."

"6:30." She said in a tone that brooked no argument. He backed away.

"See you then." She raised one hand in a distracted wave.

AN: I initially wrote this with the vague idea that they were driving a lot farther than Pittsburgh, and went from there, so... sorry. Lazy, I know, but I really don't know how to fill any more time at his parent's house


	5. Late Nights and Early Mornings

Late Nights and Early Mornings

Important A/N: Same chapter as before, I just screwed up the names. The new one is now titled Mario and Go Karts, as it should be.

6:30 the next morning

"Morning." Booth said when he knocked on her apartment door. It actually came out as more like "Mrgn", and the reply was something like "Mwf". Neither of them had had coffee. Brennan had returned home at nine, early by her standards lately, and had spent two hours packing before going to bed. Then, after spending an hour tossing and turning, she called Angela to ask her advice on the dress.

"What?" the answer was fuzzy with sleep and annoyed.

"Ange, I need your help. I'm going to a party on the weekend and I don't know what to wear."

"Bren?" There was a loud thump. "Ow. Okay, Bren, I just fell off the bed, so I'm awake now. I thought you said you were going to a party this weekend."

"I did."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Well he didn't tell me about the party until yesterday."

"HE?" It was more than half a shriek. "Who? And when, where, how did you meet him? And when do _I_ meet him? And why the hell didn't I know about him? Why haven't I met him? How did you meet a man without my help? This is a man we're talking about here, right?" Brennan heard a groan of protest in the background.

"Yes, Ange. A man. Hodgins introduced us."

"Ow." She heard a man say, quite distinctly, then furious whispers. Her hunch had been right. "She said she was awake! And now I am too. Thanks." She heard.

"So?" Angela was back.

"It's a long story and we're leaving at 6:30 tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Better question: why are you calling?" she ignored Hodgins.

"His parents live in Pittsburgh."

"HIS PARENTS!" That was a shriek and a half.

"Oh my good god! Call her back when the sun is up!"

"Angela, he just said that his mother like to throw parties. 'Loves any excuse to throw one', actually. He said I needed a dress. What does that mean?"

"Men are useless. You'll have to take several. Hmm. The red halter, and the dark blue knee-length, and the black dress."

"Wait, which one?"

"Oh. Good question. The floor length one. And the backless one. And that black top!"

"Dresses, Ange. And can we narrow it down, please? To two? I don't really have room for any more."

"Okay, okay. The new black and the purple."

"Okay. Thanks, Ange." She unpacked the green dress she had been planning to take and put the black and purple ones in its place.

"Now when do I get to meet him?"

"Um, after this weekend or something?" she said. "Look, I have to get up early. Bye."

"Good luck. And remember,"

"Do anything you would do." She finished her friend's sentence.

"I don't know what that means." Angela shot back before turning off the phone. It took another hour before Brennan could fall asleep.

She was asleep when Booth pulled into the coffee shop drive thru, but he ordered hers anyway. He knew how she liked it, and if she didn't wake up, they'd just have to stop again. Parker was asleep, after staying up almost all night excited at the prospect of seeing his grandparents, as Booth had predicted. After taking chewable Gravol, he was now asleep in the backseat, surrounded by a pillow, Gameboy, puzzle, colouring books, and some snacks to keep him happy.

AN: Since the last chapter was so short and this one is too, I thought I'd post this tonight. And not to sound churlish, but you can like something but still point out flaws! Thanks to all who have/will review. It makes me very happy.


	6. Mario and Go Karts

Mario and Go-Karts

"Whatimeisit?" she stretched.

"10:30."

"Have you been driving all this time?"

"Yeah. We're almost there." Sort of. Not really.

"Mmph. Pull off."

"Why?"

"You haven't slept well in weeks. You didn't even shave this morning. I'm driving and you're sleeping and it's impractical to do it later because I don't know how to get to your parents' house."

"Bones-,"

"Booth. You know I'm right." He reached a hand up and rubbed his chin. She was right. How had that happened? He'd have to shave before they got to his parents'.

"Next exit we'll get some food and coffee and you can drive." He promised. "Parker should wake up soon."

"Booth – how do I talk to him?"

"Same way you talked to the kids at the dance studio. Except without the 'Darwinian pressures' stuff. They liked you."

"Until they thought I was a child molester."

"I cannot think of a reason why you would want to check the curve of my son's lumbar-thing." She opened her mouth to correct him. "I don't care. Just – I think you learned your lesson."

"Okay."

"Good." They drove in silence for a while. At the next exit, they found a diner. They ate and Booth shaved and then they hit the road again, and this time Booth dozed in the passenger seat. He woke at 2:43 to Parker and Bones having an animated talk. He listened for a second. Parker was explaining Mario to Bones, who was acting very normal. Besides the fact that, you know, she had no idea what Mario was.

"Daddy, you're awake!"

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Daddy, Tempe doesn't have a TV! And she doesn't know what Mario is! OR Nintendo, or Luigi, or Yoshi, or Princess Peach, or anything! And she's never been in go-karts!"

"Well, you can show her the Mario Go-Karts at Grandma and Grandpa's."

"Sure. That sounds interesting." She sounded genuine and excited.

"I am the master of the go-karts." He said.

"We'll see about that." She smiled. "Parker's been giving me lots of tips."

"Oh has he, now?" He turned back to tickle the five–year-old, who giggled and squirmed. Tempe laughed.

"You're just an oversized kid." She accused.

"Yup." He agreed. The car trip was fun. When Booth drove again, Bones moved back to sit with Parker, who showed her his Gameboy and coached her through several disastrous races. Then he popped in another game and started teaching her about that. Booth looked in the rear-view mirror to see their heads bent together as they whispered conspiratorially.

"What are you two planning?"

"Nothing." They both said, grinning.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I am the champion of the world. You cannot defeat me." he said. Parker giggled. The trip was the best eleven hour car trip he could remember.

AN:


	7. Sanity and First Impressions

Sanity and First Impressions

When they pulled into the neat white house, Parker flew out of the car, screaming at the top of his lungs. The two adults exited at a more dignified pace and went to the trunk to get the bags.

"I'll get them, Bones."

"Sure, leave me alone with your family while you make a dozen trips."

"Was that sarcasm?" she only smiled, and then her comment reminded him of things she should know.

"Whatever my mother says, just nod and agree. And for God's sake, don't let her know that you weren't a debutante." He took the two biggest suitcases and started walking toward the house.

"What makes you think that?" she asked. He literally tripped and fell flat on his face.

"Smooth." She laughed.

"What have you done with Bones?" he demanded, getting up and brushing off his clothes.

"Your son gave me a vocabulary lesson, Sleeping Beauty.." she grinned in a most un-Bones-like way.

"Speaking of the rugrat." He said. The family had started to drift through the door as they greeted Parker and looked for his father.

"Hello, dear. I'm Lisa. You must be the Dr. Brennan we've heard absolutely nothing about." The matronly woman smiled sweetly as she shook her hand but shot a glare at Booth. Tempe studied her. Her hair was obviously dyed blonde, but it was a very pale blonde that wasn't terribly obvious. She was still pretty, but shared few of Booth's features.

"I'm Temperance. Call me Tempe."

"That's what Parker told me." she smiled. "Seeley, why is this nice lady carrying bags?"

"I tried." He said simply, coming back from the house with a similarly structured young man in tow. The stranger was not quite as tall or broad-shouldered, but their faces bore an unmistakable resemblance. Younger brother, she concluded.

"Hi. I'm Tempe." She extended a hand to him.

"Jared." He smiled. It was Booth's charm smile, but something made it less winning on another man's face. A younger woman walked out with a toddler on her hip. She resembled her mother, though less strongly than the two boys' mutual resemblance.

"Why are we greeting our guests on the lawn, Mom?" she smiled at Tempe. "I'm Lucy, by the way. Their sister. It's nice that Seeley's finally brought someone home to meet us." Her mother had turned to the boys unloading the car. Lucy put her free hand around Tempe's shoulder and steered her toward the door. "I was beginning to think he should have gone with the priest thing."

"What?" Tempe looked around for Booth, who was walking up behind her.

"One time when I was five!" he protested as his sister giggled.

"Now this is going to be a madhouse. Don't be intimidated, we're actually sane when you cut us out of the herd." She linked one arm through Tempe's, who opened her mouth.

"Just play along, Bones." He whispered in her other ear, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Pretend like you know what it means." He amended, before pasting on a charm smile for the dozen or so people gathered in the living room. In the next ninety seconds, she met Jared's fiancée Alice, Lucy's husband Greg, their teenage sister Katherine, the toddler Lucy was holding, Ben, and the two identical twins Parker was now playing with, Jeremy and Kyle, a tall, stooped older man, Uncle Jimmy, and Booth's father Thomas, who was built like Booth and from whom Booth had definitely inherited most of his features.

"Lilah and her husband Mark will arrive later tonight with their girls Susanna and Margaret and baby Kelsey." Lucy added. Her head spun.

"That's nice." She smiled faintly, feeling all eyes on her.

"This is – Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Tempe." Parker chimed in. "But Daddy calls her Bones."

"I'm a forensic anthropologist." She explained.

"She identifies bodies for us." Booth translated.

"Really? Real dead bodies?" one of the twins asked, eyes lighting up.

"Isn't that so cool!" Parker grinned. The adults laughed. A baby wailed.

"That's Chris." Lucy said, holding out the toddler – Ben – to Tempe, who put her hands underneath his arms and held him out away from her body awkwardly.

"Give him here." Booth took him and bounced him gently. The toddler cooed happily, blowing a wet bubble. The Booth family – family? Who were they kidding, this was a clan, a tribe – dispersed gradually, taking Ben.

"Dinner tonight will be informal, just to catch up. Tomorrow we'll do family stuff and if there's a formal party, it'll be tomorrow evening. Then Sunday, after Mass, there's cooking and eating for pretty much the rest of the day." He explained to her.

AN: Two short ones today, and since it's a really choppy ending, if I'm in a good mood tonight, I'll post another. Reviews make me happy. (This doesn't count 'cause it's extra!) This chapter is mostly description, and when I read my own descriptions, a mallet always comes to mind, so sorry. Oh, and don't worry, Bones hasn't caught up on twenty years of pop culture in a matter of hours. She'll be back to normal before you know it. And one more thing and then I'll shut up. It's been a while since my brother was five, and I was only nine, so if people with more frequent interaction with five-year-olds could give me some feedback on Parker, that would be great. I just never know if he's too mature, or not enough, or what. Shutting up now.

P.S. Thanks to all who reviewed!


	8. Misconceptions and Deceptions

Misconceptions and Deceptions

"Mom, where are we sleeping?" he yelled. She appeared with the baby.

"Your old room, sweetheart. Of course."

"Where's – Tempe?" she shot him an odd look and walked deeper into the house.

"This is worse than I thought." He muttered, standing stock still, face frozen in a mask of terror.

"I don't understand."

"They think – I said partner – Mom thought I meant – this is not good." He picked up the bags and started up the stairs.

"They think we're romantically involved?"

"It would appear that way."

"What's the big deal?" she asked. They were halfway up the stairs with their suitcases, so when he turned on his heel, swinging the bags, she had to hop back quickly to avoid being pushed backward down the stairs.

"I mean, why can't we just tell them?" she asked. Fear flashed across his face again.

"Because then come all the 'sweet girls' from 'nice families'."

"Are you frightened of your mother?"

"More than anyone else in the world." He confessed, dropping his voice even lower.

"Anthropologically speaking," she began.

"Shh. I'm trying to come up with a plan."

"The plan seems clear-cut to me."

"Oh really? Why don't you enlighten me?"

"Now who's sarcastic?" she grumbled as he opened a door in the long hallway.

"Okay, okay. What's the plan?"

"We can just pretend to be – you know. Involved. If it gets your mother off your back, I don't care."

"You think you can pull that off?"

"We did in Vegas." She said, slipping into her 'Roxy' accent for a second.

"This is different. The stakes are higher."

"Higher than death?"

"Ye-uh."

"Fine, then. Have fun breaking the news." She turned to leave.

"Wait! Okay, we can try it"

"Okay, then, as a romantically involved couple, you have to tell me. Did you seriously sleep on rocket-ship sheets?" she cracked up.

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone's a comedian. Almost like Colin Ferrell." He elbowed her.

"Hey, guys! Dinner!"

The dinner conversation was pedestrian as the reunited family caught up.

"So when can we expect more little ones?" Lisa asked sweetly. Tempe looked up from her food and saw everyone staring at her. She choked and Booth – Seeley Booth, that is – patted her on the back. She began to explain how patting someone on the back is actually detrimental, but she was coughing too hard.

"Tempe and I are friends and colleagues first and foremost, Mom. Anything – more – is new and we're taking it slow." He said. His fingers, on her back, crossed.

"I can't wait to see Lilah and her girls." Lucy interjected. And the conversation left Temperance Brennan far behind.

"What are you doing?" she returned from brushing her teeth to find Booth stretched out on the floor. "We went through this in Vegas." She sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, sleep in the bed."

"I'd better go check on Parker." Parker and the twins were sleeping in the guest room. Jared and Lucy were in their bedrooms with their partners, and Lilah, the oldest, would sleep downstairs, their girls in Lilah's old room, which Katherine now inhabited. Jimmy lived in the area.

"I just did, he's asleep."

"You checked on him?"

"Yeah." She shrugged and got into bed.

"Well, good night, Bones." He said, climbing under the covers awkwardly.

"Good night, rocket-man."


	9. Another Early Morning

Another Early Morning

They were woken by Parker and the twins at a time that made them groan simultaneously, pull the covers over their head and turn over in an attempt to go back to sleep. This resulted in facing each other underneath the blanket.

"Come on, Seel. Rise and shine." Someone – his brother? – said with a laugh.

"They're not going to go away, are they?" she said with a pained expression.

"I'm going to beat him." Was his answer. She hoped he wasn't serious. Sort of. It was 6:00 on a Saturday.

"Okay, okay, we're up. What's the big deal?" he grumbled as they helped themselves to breakfast from the buffet spread on the dining room table.

"The kids are having a video games tournament and we couldn't very well let the self-proclaimed king of go-karts sleep through it, could we?"

"Why do I have to be up?" Tempe asked. She didn't think anyone would understand her, since she was not yet through her cup of coffee, but Lucy answered her.

"Parker said you two had a plan to bring down Seeley."

"Oh yeah." She perked up a little at the thought that the little boy had wanted her to play with him.

"They're downstairs already, setting up." They gave up all hope of going back to bed and followed Jared downstairs. There was a guest bedroom on the left as you came down the stairs, but the rest was open. A washer and dryer sat against one wall, and a TV against another. A beaten-up old couch and two armchairs sat facing it. They were each occupied by a five-year-old boy.

"Tempe!"

"Oh, no you don't. I'm not having a conspiracy. Go get Grandpa."

"You think he'll play?"

"Only if he gets to be your partner!" Parker looked at Tempe.

"Go on," she smiled, flattered again. He grinned at her and sped off.

"He's just like you." She said. Booth just dragged her to the couch Parker had vacated and picked up two silver controllers.

"They're wireless." He explained. "See, you push and hold this to go, and you steer with this, and you fire off the items with this." She nodded.

"It's different than the other thing."

"Gameboy."

"Yeah."

"Well, I think we're playing in teams, so you will fire off the items with this button."

"I thought that was to go."

"I'll be doing that."

"You're driving?"

"Yeah. Duh."

"Oh, very mature."

"We're getting ready to have a video game tournament, Bones."

"True." She conceded.

"So. Where is everybody?" Jeremy (or was it Kyle?) bellowed and down the stairs came a host of people who picked up controllers and arranged themselves around the room.

"Your entire family plays this?" she whispered.

"Well, Jared's worse than I am, and Lilah learned to play because we annoyed her, and Lucy is clueless, but her husband will play with Lilah because Mark is far too dignified for all this, and I'm told that the girls," he indicated Susanna and Margaret, who were six and eight, "Have been training to beat the boys."

"I've been instructed to infiltrate the enemy's camp." Alice said, plopping down on the sofa beside Tempe.

"I don't know what that means."

"Jared and Seeley are no more grown up than Parker and the twins and this race is a big deal to them."

"It's a tournament." Seeley corrected.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Jared wants to know if you're as hopeless as I am."

"She had never heard of Mario before yesterday in the car."

"Really? Wow. He's been hiding a secret life from you. Well, Jared will be pleased." They looked over. He was scratching his nose. "That's my signal to come back." Alice said, and smiled one last time at Tempe.


	10. Competition

Competition

A/N: I'm late today, sorry! I'll give you another chapter to make it up. People are confused by the family (no wonder), so here's my explanation:

Tom and Lisa are Booth's parents. Jimmy is Tom's older brother. Seeley is the oldest (a reviewer said Jared is supposed to be older, I didn't remember that when writing, and now I think we're stuck). Then comes Jared (engaged to Alice), Lilah (who is married to Mark and has three daughters, Susanna (8), Margaret (7) and baby Kelsey), Lucy (married to Greg, has 6 year old twin sons Jeremy and Kyle, a toddler Ben, and an infant, Chris) and Katherine (16). The four older Booth's are fairly close in age, I didn't feel it really mattered and I didn't want to clutter uneccessarily; if you really want to know, I can put it in the next chapter I post.

"We're here, we're here, we're here, we're here!" Parker yelled, thumping down the stairs. The twins had settled on the floor inches away from the screen, their father was being forced out of one armchair by the two little girls. Jared and Alice shared the other chair, heads bent together, Jared's expression intense and Alice rolling her eyes. Lilah was on the couch next to them and Greg joined her with a smile.

"I may be juvenile," he said, "But I'm not a Booth." Lucy, who had been doing laundry and was now standing behind the couch, cuffed the side of his head and jumped over the couch back to sit beside him. Tempe was crushed against Seeley.

"Move over, princess." The Booth father motioned to Lilah, on the other end of the couch. "Grandpas don't sit on the floor." Everyone squished and moved and in the end, Tempe was more on Seeley's lap than on the couch, Parker was sitting on his grandfather's knee and the other three adults were bickering and pushing in the middle.

"We're starting now!" Jared declared. He had a white board with a chart drawn on it.

"So, teams. We've got Seeley and Tempe, Alice and me, Jeremy and Kyle, Parker and Dad, Greg and Lilah, and Susanna and Margaret. We need two more teams to round it off."

"You're right." Seeley declared. "Kids, go recruit some more while we adults start."

"Leave your grandmother alone!" Tom warned as the five thumped up the stairs. Mark drifted out of the guest bedroom.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Lilah asked innocently.

"I'm not going to get any peace until I do this, am I?"

"I wouldn't bet on it." Alice shook her head sympathetically.

"All right, Tempe and Seeley, me and Alice, Lilah and Mark,"

"No way!" Lilah said. Mark looked at her from his daughters' vacated chair.

"No offence, sweetie."

"Offence taken."

"Unwanted spouses have to stick together." Lucy declared, picking up a controller and sticking out her tongue at her husband.

"You wouldn't play!" he protested.

"I'm a Booth. I'll play anything."

"Right, so Seeley and Tempe, me and Alice, Lilah and Greg, and Lucy and Mark." Jared declared.

"In that order." Seeley said. Jared glared.

"We'll see about that." Jared started flying through menus.

"Get Yoshi!" Seeley whispered in her ear.

"What?" she asked, but a screen came up with lots of little pictures. She recognized the little green dragon/dinosaur thing and manoeuvred her cursor over him and hit the button.

"HA!" said Seeley.

"Now you're really going down." Jared pointed at him.

"What did you just make me do?" she demanded.

"Never mind." He said. And then, finally, it was the beginning of the race. Alice, Mark and Greg were frantically tapping buttons. She looked around in confusion as they all shot ahead when the light went green.

"I'll teach you before the next one." He promised, and then they set about trying to catch up. She soon learned what the items did. Red shells went after the person in front of you. Green ones just fired off straight ahead. The little bananas and the red boxes would stay in the road until someone hit them. Yoshi's 'special' was an egg that functioned like a red shell, but when it hit, also spewed out bananas, shells, mushrooms, which gave you a temporary burst of speed, and stars, which made you faster and invincible for a short time. She learned that the best time to throw a banana or a box was right after a blind curve or when you were right in front of someone, and a shell was best used when the target was right before a banana or course hazard, like a curve without a railing. This was a very bad place to use a mushroom. In the end, they came second to Jared and Alice. Jared marked down all their scores before they started the next race, and Seeley explained what the tapping was about.

"You want to hit the button at the exact moment the light turns green." He said. So she waited and got the timing just right, and they sped ahead of everyone else. This time, Jared and Seeley, still going after each other with every opportunity ("No, save the shell. I want to get ahead of Lilah before we use it"), lost miserably. Jared made a face as he marked down the 4 beside his name, but now the teams were pretty much even. The next two races left Seeley and Tempe one behind Jared and Alice. Lucy and Mark had come in third, so they teased their spouses mercilessly as a sleepy Katherine was persuaded to play with Uncle Jimmy to round out the junior pool.

Tempe had the time to relax as the children played. Lucy was surprisingly intense for someone 'clueless', and Lilah was every bit as bad as her brothers. It was not lost on Tempe that the Booths were in every single driver's seat. This time, Parker and Jimmy were driving, and the twins and girls would switch every race. When the four races were over, the little boys were stunned. They had been beaten by girls and an old guy! The little girls smiled sweetly and Jimmy grinned diabolically. Tempe had a feeling that he wasn't a bit feeble minded. Katherine shrugged, though she was as zealous as anyone during the races.

"Okay, okay, championship. And this time, you're going down." Seeley pointed at Jared. And they did. The courses this time were harder and everyone fell off at least once. Tempe was introduced to another method of attacking your opponents: pulling up beside them and punching them. Yoshi hit the other teams with his long tongue. At seeing this, she immediately began talking about the differences between frogs and dinosaurs, but eventually stopped when she realized that the screaming Booths and their only mildly more moderate partners were not listening. Nor were the spectators any better, cheering every time someone got hit and booing every time someone lost control of the car and fell off the side.

A/N: My brother's the only one who really games in my family, but my dad and my sister and I sometimes get sucked into tournament in baseball or go karts. We're not this intense.


	11. Rematches and Spinsters

Rematches and Spinsters

A/N: Really not happy with the next couple chapters, but I've fiddled with it for months. Maybe a fresh perspective would help?

"We are the champions, my friends," sang Seeley at the end, standing and raising his arms in victory.

"Whatever. You're going down in baseball." Jared said, popping another game into the whatever-it-was. Only two could play that at a time, so Jared made a new scoreboard and people drifted away to wait their turn.

"So a reluctance to give up the driver's seat runs in the family?" she asked as they went upstairs. He grinned sheepishly.

"I don't know. I guess so."

"So what else are we going to do today?" he shrugged.

"There's Uncle Fred's."

"Another Booth?"

"He's not actually our uncle. He's my Dad's buddy from Vietnam. His REO. He has a place and we usually go up to see him when we get together. He's got a campsite and water sports and horses, all kinds of outdoorsy stuff. Hey, Mom." He called. She walked out of the kitchen.

"Please don't yell in the house, dumpling."

"Sorry, Mom. Are we going to Uncle Fred's?"

"Yes, after lunch." Tempe checked her watch. 9:00. Unbelievable.

"You want some help with the dishes?" he offered.

"No, sweetie, don't be silly. Go down and catch up with your father. Leave us girls alone." Alarm crossed his face and her mind, but his mother's soft, reasonable voice and sweet smile was nonetheless laced with an iron will. She took the dishtowel offered and he went back downstairs.

"So, you and my son work together?"

"Yes. Well, I work for the Jeffersonian. When the FBI needs a consult, he and I work together."

"Oh. That's lovely. So how long have you known Seeley?"

"About a year and a half."

"His father and I got married just after a year and a half. He was going off to Vietnam. I was terrified that he wouldn't come back, of course, but he thought if I was going to wait for him, I had better have a ring." She displayed her finger. The ring was gold with a small blue stone and two clear.

"It's – nice. Lovely."

"Yes, well, Seeley's never been married. I had hoped – but now he tells me she has a boyfriend. Rebecca was such a sweet girl. Nice family, too. Well, what's done is done. So have you ever been married?"

"No. I-,"

"You children are waiting so long to get married these days. How old are you?"

"Thirty-one."

"My word! Seeley was almost in middle school by the time I was thirty-one. An unmarried thirty-one year old was a spinster!"

"Mom, I'm gonna go to the market to get a few last-minute things and I'd like an extra pair of hands. You don't mind if I steal Tempe here, do you?"

"Oh, not at all, Lucy dear. Don't forget the corn."

"I won't, Mom." She promised, pulling on Tempe's arm.


	12. Sanity and a Lack Thereof

Sanity and the Lack Thereof

"How bad was it?" she asked when they closed the front door. Tempe was alarmed.

"What?"

"The first time I brought Greg home, Daddy and Uncle Fred took him to the shooting range. He came back pale as milk. He proposed that night. Three guys broke up with me the week after I brought them home. Seeley's learned not to bring them home, but Jared's not so clever. I think in total it's been five who have come home and four left early. The remaining one broke up with him on the plane ride home. My parents are scary."

"Well, a little, yes." She was taken aback by Lucy's directness. She didn't even offer to drive.

"So, I'm sure she mentioned Rebecca."

"Yes."

"Did I hear the spinster story?"

"Yes."

"She told me that when I was twenty-two." Lucy looked over at her with a charm smile. "She means well, but I can imagine that she's the mother of all mother in laws. It doesn't surprise me that Lilah and I married before the boys. It wouldn't surprise me if Katherine married before the boys. I think Alice is crazy. In a good way."

"Booth – Seeley – he wants to get married. To someone, I mean. He just hasn't found that someone yet." Tempe stumbled out. Lucy pulled over.

"Okay. You call him Booth and you say he doesn't want to marry you, yet you're here at his parents house."

"Well- uh," she needed Angela. "The truth is that Booth and I aren't like that."

"You're not."

"And I don't want children. And I believe that marriage is an archaic institution that goes against a human's natural biological instincts." She was relieved to stop lying.

"Is that why you're not together?"

"Yes. No. No, we work together." Lucy waited. "We work together and we just aren't like that. He doesn't think of me that way. No matter what Angela says. And I don't think of him like that." Lucy nodded slowly.

"I think I'm beginning to understand." Tempe sighed.

"Good. I'm not really – good with people."

"Right. Well, I am. And since you're not asking my advice I'm just going to give it to you. Seeley is like Dad in a lot of ways. But he doesn't want a wife – or girlfriend, or life partner, or whatever – like Mom. I think it would drive him crazy. She needs to have her own life, her own career."

"Yeah. He was dating Tessa – she was a lawyer. And he was seeing Cam – my boss. She's an ME." Lucy pulled back onto the road.

"Was it her who was trapped in the car? The, uh, serial kidnapper thing?"

"That was Jack Hodgins, our entomologist, and me."

"Oh. I would have thought – but, I guess I was wrong."

"What?"

"That was one of the scariest experiences of his life. I thought then that he'd finally found someone. He has never been more frantic."

"What do you mean? How do you know?"

"He called me."

"He told you that?"

"No. But the fact that he called me tells me a lot."


	13. Phone Calls

Phone Calls

A/N: I really, really hate this phone call. I can't make it work. I feel like I'm wielding a sledgehammer again. I like my idea that somewhere in that time period, he called Lucy, but that's all I've got. Suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

* * *

_"Lucy?"_

_"Speaking."_

_"Hey, Luce. It's your favourite brother." His voice sounded strained._

_"Jared!" he forced a laugh and she knew something was really wrong._

_"Seel, is Parker okay?" she asked, worried._

_"Parker's great."_

_"You okay?"_

_"I'm fine. I just – needed to talk. Luce, how do you know you're in love? I mean, Greg isn't really your type. How did you know that he was the one?" she was silent for a second._

_"He got offered a job in San Diego. We'd only been dating for seven months, but I just couldn't imagine life without him anymore."_

_"Yeah. Okay. Well, look, I have to go. I – we're trying to catch a serial killer."_

_"I hope you get him."_

_"I hope so too. Bye, Luce."_

* * *

"He never tells me what he's working on. So when he did, I knew he was rattled. A lot." 

"We're partners. He saved my life, but that doesn't mean that-,"

"I knew I was in love with Greg when I couldn't imagine life without him anymore." They fell silent as she tried to imagine life without the FBI agent.

Lunch was a sandwich buffet outside in the backyard. It was big and covered in grass and the kids were kicking a soccer ball around after they finished eating. Then the girls convinced their mother to even the odds, and, the Booths being the Booths, it turned into a huge game. Tom, Jimmy, Tempe, Greg, Mark, Alice and Lisa watched from the sidelines. Then Tempe heard her cell phone. She walked inside to answer it.

"Brennan."

"Hey, Bren. I just thought I'd see how you were doing."

"Fine. It's going okay."

"Okay?"

"His mother asked me when to expect grandchildren."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I choked on my food." Angela laughed. "And B – art told her we were taking things slow. And then his sister changed the subject."

"Bart? I don't know a Bart. How did you meet this guy?"

"Uh – he works at my publishers." She lied quickly.

"Really. Interesting."

"Are you going to play?" Seeley walked in and asked her. She gestured for him to hush.

"I have to go, Ange. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie. Call me after the party, tell me how it went."

"If I have time, sure. Bye."

"Did she hear me?"

"I don't think so." She shook her head.

"Good. So, you want to play?"

"I don't really know how."

"It's easy, Bones. You kick the ball at the other team's net."

"Okay, I'll try." She said when she saw Lisa carrying dishes into the kitchen.


	14. Animal Behaviour  Private Conversations

Animal Behaviour and Private Conversations

A/N: Sorry, I didn't actually write a soccer bit. You just assume that this picks up a little later. The horses in this chapter are thrown in because I am horse-crazy. This chapter doesn't make a lot of sense. Kudos to whoever spots the book Tempe reference!

"Everyone ready to go to Uncle Fred's?" Booth (A/N: 'Seeley' seems so wrong) asked the kids after a quick consultation with his father.

"Yea!" Susanna, the younger girl, squealed.

"Okay, go get your bathing suits."

"I don't suppose you brought one?"

"Booth, it's November."

"Oh, come on. Lucy will lend you one."

"Booth, I am not going swimming."

"Okay, Bones."

Booth drew the short straw and so they were the ones who spent half an hour in the car with the excited kids. Her ears were ringing when they climbed out.

"Booth, this is beautiful." It was. There was a lake and forest and the buildings were like old-fashioned lodges, built of wooden logs.

"Uncle Fred!"

"Hello, munchkins." He greeted them.

"I'm Fred."

"Tempe." She shook the outstretched hand. He was athletic and weather-beaten, his face wrinkled and his smile easy.

"Do you guys want to water-ski?" he asked them. The answer was an enthusiastic yes.

"I take it you two would rather ride?" he asked. They nodded. "I'll get these munchkins ready. You two can go on up. I won't start anything until the rest of them get here."

"Thanks, Uncle Fred. Good to see you."

"Good to see you too, son. Especially with a pretty lady and a boy." And he turned and left them.

"Come on. I'll show you the stable."

"So you rode as a kid?"

"Some, here. Not like, lessons, or a lot. Lilah was a lot more into it. Katherine is, too. In kids, riding's mostly a girl thing. Jared used to hang out here to meet girls."

"But not you?" he laughed.

"Maybe I spent more time driving Lilah here than I needed to."

"I always liked horses."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Animals in general, really. Their behaviour makes a lot more sense than people's. I once had a cat, Birdie." A comfortable silence stretched out as she greeted each horse.

"Thanks for doing this, Bones. Lucy said she rescued you from my Mom. Just – thanks. It means a lot."

"Enough to get me a gun?" he laughed.

"After the Gravedigger thing, maybe. I'll talk to Cullen."

"Hey, guys." It was Lilah.

"Hey. What took you guys so long?"

"Katherine has her learner's." she said, as though it explained everything.

"I heard that." The teenager said, entering behind her. "Fred already tacked up Misty and Raven. He wasn't sure who you'd want or how many there'd be." She passed Seeley and Tempe helmets.

"You got a preference, Seel?" Lilah asked.

"Nope. I only ever came to pick up girls. And I happen to have my eye on one right now." Tempe elbowed him.

"Okay, I'll take Jake, then." Lilah said, with a glance at Katherine.

"Fine with me. Misty's mine. I'll get someone for Tempe. Come on." She walked down the aisle. A finely built chestnut kicked the door. Katherine stopped and cocked her head to the side in thought.

"This is Angel. How about her?"

"Sure." Katherine nodded and started to get her ready, tying her up and picking out her feet. Tempe picked up a brush and held it up for Katherine's approval, which she received.

"Is it hard?" she asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Your job – is it hard? You know, to like, be around death all the time?"

"Well – sometimes. But – well, you don't get used to it. But it's like being a medical doctor. Sometimes there are hard cases, but at the end of the day - we give names and faces back to people who don't have them anymore. And we give answers and closure to their families."

"Yeah."

"But we're not really normal – ask Booth. Except Angela. She's normal – sort of. She's an artist."

"Cool."

"Are you thinking of going into something…?" she trailed off as Katherine saddled the mare.

"I don't know. Maybe. I was thinking more about archaeology,"

"My boss was an archaeologist." She nodded.

"Do you love him?"

"Dr. Goodman? No, he's –oh. Seeley – uh,"

"I'm sorry. You're under enough pressure from my freak show of a family as it is." She smiled wryly and slipped the bit into the mare's mouth.

Katherine knew the trails best, so she led. Tempe ended up beside Lilah when the trail widened. The birdsong and the almost hypnotic motion of the horse beneath her were soothing.

"Are we taking you away from your family?" Lilah asked.

"Uh – sort of – not really. My brother lives in North Carolina, and he was going to spend Thanksgiving with his girlfriend and her two children. Girls, like yours."

"Your parents?" Lilah asked.

"Um – my mother's dead."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. And I know my father's alive but not where he is or even, really, who he is." She mused aloud.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, really. Booth – Seeley has been helping me a lot with it. What do you do?"

"I'm a lawyer. Mark and I have our own practice. Divorce, mostly." She laughed. So did Tempe.

"But it works." She shrugged. Then they cantered for a while and then Katherine and Lilah wanted to go off on another trail to gallop.

"Stay on this one and it'll take you back to the stable." They instructed. Booth and Bones were left alone again.

"We are having a party tonight. A 'get together' with 'a few friends'. At least they won't all have single daughters." He smiled ruefully.

"Your family's very protective of you." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Katherine asked me if I loved you and then Lilah was quizzing me about my family."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"Okay."

"Katherine asked me about my job."

"Like she was interested?"

"She's leaning more towards archaeology."

"Squints are squints." He informed her. She stuck out her tongue playfully.


	15. Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek

A/N: Not only low review turnout, but fewer hits on the last chapter. I suppose if you're reading this, you're reading the story, but if something is turning readers off the story, please tell me so I can attempt to fix it. Thank you to reviewers and to readers

The Booth men dressed in their suits and ties and fled downstairs to the TV, leaving the upstairs to the women. It was Lucy who knocked on Tempe's door. She was still trying to decide on what to wear.

"I was just wondering if you needed a hair straightner or curler or anything?"

"No, thank you."

"What are you wearing?" she came in further.

"I don't know. What would be more appropriate?"

"The black. This other dress is nice, but it's too long for a 'get together'."

"Is this okay?"

"It's beautiful. Are you going to Mass tomorrow?"

"Uh -,"

"It's fine if you don't. Mark is an Anglican and I myself am a little lapsed. Greg usually takes the boys to church, but Mom doesn't need to know that."

"Uh – I don't really believe in a higher power. I went to church with Seeley once. A couple of weeks ago."

"Right. Well, that's fine. I'm not sure if Alice is going or not, and Mark might find a church or something, I don't know. Whatever happens, you're welcome to sleep in."

"Okay."

"What are you going to do with your hair?"

"Oh – I don't know."

"We're all in Mom's room. She's downstairs getting everything ready. Join us when you're changed."

"Okay."

So she went downstairs with the rest of the Booth women, including Alice, in another hour. Her hair was curled and piled on top of her head.

"Could one of you do me a favour and go get the boys? They're still down in the basement." Lisa asked. Mark and Greg were already waiting for their wives.

"Odds and evens." Alice said. Katherine had drifted off to the teenage children of the visitors.

"What?" Minutes later, Alice was helping Lisa and Tempe was struggling down the stairs in a pair of heels Angela had 'encouraged' her to buy.

"Uh, hello? Lisa says you have to come up now." She looked around and saw no one.

"Hello?" a childish giggle behind a chair gave them away. She looked to find Parker crouching there. "Where is everyone?"

"Hiding. Daddy said if we hid really good we could take off our ties."

"Well, Grandma's not going to like this."

"No she won't." Seeley came out from under the stairs. "Come on, guys. Fun's over. Boring party stuff now." Jared and the twins and the girls emerged from various hiding spots, groaning.

"Wow." Jared said.

"I heard that." Alice said, coming down the stairs. "What's taking so long?"

"They were hiding." She explained.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Alice asked her. "Come on, kids, let's go. And 'kids' includes you two." She gestured to the grown men.

"I have to agree with Jared, Bones. You look – wow."

"Thanks." She said, a little uncomfortable. "You too." And he did.

"Shall we?" he offered his arm and she took it, knowing she would have to get up the stairs in the heels.


	16. Rescues

Rescues

A/N: First off, thank you for the response to my last chapter. I appreciate the feedback. As a result, updates may slow down a little. Not a lot, I just have to rework the rest.

A recurring theme in reviews is that I should get them together, that you guys want to see some "action". I'm sorry, but I just really can't write that stuff well. As it is now, getting them together is a very gradual process, and I don't see that changing. Sorry. Keep reading please!

Lastly, there are apparently some technical difficulties with this. I haven't done anything differently, but I have no idea what to suggest except to keep checking back. I'm new to the site and I still don't understand everything. Thank you for humouring me. With out further ado, the party:

"Seeley! I'm told you're taken now. The ladies at church will just be crushed." A pretty blonde woman hurried over to them.

"Is this her?" Brennan asked. Booth glanced at her unimpressed expression.

"Yeah. Temperance Brennan, Marcy Capps."

"Hi. Seeley and I have known each other forever, right?" The blonde reached for her hand with a smile. Her hand felt like a dead fish in Brennan's.

"Sorry, Marcy, my mom wanted to see us."

"Oh! I'll catch up with you later, then. Nice to meet you." She extracted her hand from the other woman's grip. "Are they all going to be like that?" she hissed in his ear as soon as she deemed it safe.

"Let's hope not."

"Have I lost my doctorate?"

"She would have asked what it was and I really didn't want to talk to her. Sorry."

"It's okay. I just wanted to know if there was a reason. So I can tell people?"

"Course you can, Bones." He smiled and she suddenly felt the room was warm. She took a small step away.

"Okay."

"Hey! Seeley, son, we've missed you."

"Hey, Coach." Booth embraced the solidly built older man.

"And this is the girl, huh? The Booth women are all lookers." He glanced at her again.

"This is Dr. Temperance Brennan. Tempe, honey, meet my high school football coach, Mr. Yolen."

"I don't have no fancy doctorate, but I do know how to win state."

"I've never played football."

"Well, no, sweetheart,"

"Tempe, Alice looks in need of rescuing." Booth cut in. And Alice did. She was smiling and nodding as an older woman, hair sliding dangerously with every bob of her head, spoke and gestured wildly.

"Good idea." But it wasn't. She and Alice were sucked into a conversation with more older women. Which wouldn't have been a problem except that they were all ex-pageant winners with no career and no goals to speak of who now revelled in running their children's lives. They professed to be deeply religious but seemed very un-kind and un-Christian (as she understood it) as they gossiped about the women not present to defend themselves. Finally she saw, in the crowd, Marcy making her way towards Seeley with a predatory directness.

"I'm sorry, but I think I feel like dancing. Would you excuse me?" she extricated herself from the group, knowing they would talk about either her or Marcy as soon as she left and not much caring either way.

"Dance with me," she said, reaching him just before Marcy and taking his hand.

"Okay." He looked a little confused, but pulled her onto the dance floor. It was only then that she realized it was a slow love song.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Rescuing Alice didn't go so well, huh?"

"We covered pageants, marriage and children."

"And?"

"I mourn my lost pageant years, I'm not going to push you about marriage, and I simply adore Parker."

"You said all that?"

"Well, one of them is true." Impulsively, he kissed her on the forehead.

"You're incredible, you know that?"

"Well, yeah." She said, deadpan. Her façade broke when he leaned back to look at her. She started giggling. A phone rang. Tempe looked down at her dress and realized that hers was in her purse, with the ladies.

"Booth." He answered curtly.

"How's my favourite FBI agent?"

"Fine, Angela." He pointed at the phone and then at Tempe, and shrugged his shoulders.

"So what are you doing? It sounds like a party." She didn't get it.

"What did you tell her?" he asked, holding his hand over the phone. She held up a finger and ran for her phone, leaving him standing there with no ide what to say.

"Yeah, sorta." he replied lamely. "My mom loves to throw these 'get togethers'."

"Really? Well, I'm just calling about Brennan. She's gone to meet some guy's parents and I haven't even met him! She said she'd introduce us after this weekend, and I have been trying to wait, but I am not a patient woman. So, you know anything?"

"Uh ... no." He hoped that was the right answer. What had Brennan told Booth?

"You haven't grilled him? Run him through the FBI background check thing? Why? You were all over David!"

"Well, he's a friend of mine, actually." Yes! That was a good lie.

"Are you worried?"

"Well – uh – no. Angela, Tempe can take care of herself. And - Andy's a stand-up guy."

"Tempe?" Damn it! He knew Angela, and if he didn't efuse this, she'd have conviced the entire Jeffersonian that he and Tempe - Brennan - Bones - were married by the time they got back.

"Bones. Brennan. You know what I mean."

"Right. Well, I have another call. Gotta go." He wasn't sure if she had been convinced.

"Alright. Bye, Angela."

"Who's Angela?" Someone asked behind him. He jumped.

"Someone Tempe and I work with. She was just checking to see how the weekend was going. She's Tempe's best friend." It all poured out of his nervous mouth as his mind reviewed the conversation again for slip-ups.

"Then why didn't she call her?" Marcy seemed suspicious.

"I think Tempe had her cell phone off or on vibrate or something. You know, I like to keep mine on in case it's FBI stuff. Angela knows that."

"Oh. Well, where has Tempe gone?"

"I don't know, but I think I'd better go look for her."

"Oh, come on, dance with me."

"I don't think so, Marcy, I," he looked around for an escape.

"Marcy!" Lucy smiled and waved, but he knew her tone. It was his mother's tone. The sickly sweet I'm-going-to-tear-you-to-shreds voice. Lilah and Katherine and even Alice drifted over. "I haven't seen you for ages!" Lucy cooed, coming over to take Marcy's hand. She pulled her irresistibly towards the waiting women. Seeley shuddered. Booth women might be lookers, but they were also scary. He hoped he was never on the receiving end of their wrath. He decided to make good on his promise and go look for Tempe.


	17. Family

Family 

A/N: Really short chapter, I know, but I'm posting another with it and it's a natural break in the flow.

She was outside in the backyard on the phone.

"Okay, so, thanks for the advice, Angela." He heard. "Bye." She heaved a sigh of relief.

"What was that?"

"Oh. I called Angela and asked for her advice on hair."

"Hair?"

"Yeah. As in, how I should wear mine."

"Does it matter?"

"You tell me." She folded her arms across her chest.

"No – I mean, it looks nice. I just think, it always looks nice." She looked mollified.

"You know, my sisters have really taken a liking to you." He said.

"Really?"

"They were mobbing Marcy when I left. They didn't look interested in catching up." She smiled.

"I like your family, Seeley. They're loud and sometimes they seem a little crazy but it's nice, having a big family. You all look out for each other." He stared at her, knowing that she was thinking of all the years she had had to look out for herself.

"There are different kinds of families, you know, Tempe."

"What do you mean?"

"At the Jeffersonian. That's a lot like a family. Angela, Hodgins, Zach. You all look out for each other. And you and Camille? That's classic sibling conflict. When we were kids, we picked on each other, but anyone else – we closed ranks. And you have Russ."

"And you?"

"Yeah. Always."

"You know, most people would say that you and Zach share a very brotherly relationship."

"What?"

"Older siblings frequently do not enjoy their younger sibling's interest in them. He tries to emulate you, and you are annoyed by him. That's classic sibling conflict."

"Okay, yeah, maybe. You wanna go inside?"

"Let's stay out for just a minute, okay?"

"Sure, Tempe."


	18. Babies

Babies

A/N: This is the second of two chapter's I've posted together. The little hits stats thing leads me to believe that sometimes people just read the second when I do that. Reviewers have requested some interaction between Brennan and the kids, so, here's some.

When she woke up the next morning, everyone was gone. She checked downstairs and then found a note by the coffeemaker. Following the instructions, she found the VHS tapes and managed to figure out how to work the VCR and TV. A couple hours later and she had moved on to the photo albums when they returned. She heard people calling her name and then Parker poked his head down in the basement.

"She's down here!" he bellowed, much louder than a child his size should have been able to.

"Had a good morning?" Lucy asked, coming down with Chris.

"Yup." She grinned, taking a picture of yet another picture with her cell phone.

"Seeley was the first, so Mom went even further overboard than with the rest of us."

"I'm definitely driving home." She laughed.

"What's going on down here?" he asked, loosening his tie as he came down. He walked over to look over her shoulder. Lucy lay Chris down beside Tempe and scooted away. She screamed and ran when he turned. He pounded up the stairs after her, and Tempe was left alone with the baby.

"Hi." She said hesitantly as it tried to crawl towards her.

"Goo." It said, drooling on her leg.

"Yeah, you too." She said, wiping the drool on its pants. Then she held it up in front of her.

"Okay, Chris, no drooling on me, okay? I'm not good with kids. I'm not going to baby talk with you." He grinned and squirmed happily, reaching for her.

"No pulling my hair, either." She ordered, turning it around to sit in her lap and look at the pictures.

"This is your uncle Seeley. He's probably about your age here, see? Maybe you'll get as big as him someday. Although statistically, that's unlikely. Though you do share some DNA with him, your daddy's smaller than him and your mommy's even smaller than your dad." She continued to talk to the child, not in baby talk, as she had promised, but cuddling it a little more as time passed and it didn't cry. It actually smelled kind of nice. Then it started to not smell so nice. She put the photo album aside and looked at it.

"I suppose I can't blame you, can I? It's not your fault that you're not developed enough to have conscious control of your bodily functions." It started to cry. She picked it up carefully and carried it upstairs.

"Hello? Anyone? Help?" she called. Seeley walked through the door, dressed casually now. She didn't have time to think about how his black sweater made his eyes look even more intense. Definitely not. Sort of. "Make it stop." She wailed, holding it out to him.

"You work on maggot-filled bodies and you can't handle one messy diaper?"

"Booth! I told you I didn't like the maggots, and it won't stop crying!"

Okay. Come here, Chris. Hey, buddy, no need to cry. You smelly stinky. Let's go get that fixed." He cried harder.

"Good job." She said. Jeremy had said that to Kyle when Kyle fell off the go-kart track.

"Get out of the way, amateurs. Hello, baby. Mommy's here. Yes she is. You need a new diaper, yes you do! Do you think Daddy will do it? I don't think so. No I don't. But that's okay. We're just fine, yes we are. Come on, Chris. Oh, you're getting so big!" she cooed as she carried it away. The wails had downgraded to whimpers.

"I didn't see much of Parker when he was a baby." Booth said, by way of explanation.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"You're going to kick my ass if I tell you."

"Why?"

"Promise you'll let me finish."

"Okay."

"The women cook and the men sit downstairs and watch football."

"What?"

"You said you'd let me finish!" he skipped backwards. "And afterwards, the men do the dishes so the women can take a break." She glared at him, but went towards the kitchen.


	19. Football

Football

A/N: SO sorry. I was rushing this morning. Here's the actual chapter 19.

She was peeling potatoes when an audible roar came from beneath their feet.

"What was that?" she jumped, nicking her finger.

"Here." Lucy held out a tissue. "They're watching football. Enough said."

"I don't understand. I've never watched a football game. I saw a soccer game once with a friend. He called it football. He was from-,"

"Back up." Lilah said, "You've never been to a football game, live?"

"It's much better than watching it on TV." Katherine said.

"I've never seen one there either. I don't own a TV." She explained. They looked at each other.

"How are you at washing dishes?" asked Lucy, slinging an arm around her shoulder and turning her in the direction of the basement stairs.

"We have to wait until the end of the play." Lucy whispered. The players with white jerseys jumped on top of one with a green jersey and everyone groaned except Mark, who jumped up and pumped his fist in the air before glancing at the others and sitting back down quietly.

"Guys." She spoke loudly to capture their attention.

"Huh?" they grunted as one, eyes glued to the TV for the replay.

"This is Tempe." She dropped her voice. "Football messes with their short term memory." Tempe nodded, a little intimidated. Lucy raised her voice again and spoke slowly and clearly, as though speaking to someone slightly deaf with a limited grasp of English. "Are you listening?"

"Uhhn."

"Are they barbeque?" asked Seeley without looking away from the TV.

"We didn't bring chips." Lucy said slowly and distinctly near his ear, then gave up as the play started again. After that was a commercial break.

"I hope they're not ketchup." Seeley said, turning to them.

"What do you want?" Greg turned and asked curtly.

"Interesting response. I have a feeling it's going to come back to haunt you." Lucy said with narrowed eyes before going back to her purpose. "Tempe's never seen a football game."

"Oh, it's so much better at the stadium." Mark said.

"No, I mean never. As is ever. As in, she doesn't own a TV." The flurry of talking and pulling that ensued ended suddenly when the commercials ended. Tempe was sitting on the arm of Seeley's chair. Mark was in the other chair, as he appeared to be cheering against everyone else. The play ended and they stood as one, arms up and shouting angrily at the TV. Tempe tried to duck Seeley's arm and fell. No one noticed, but they started explaining the game to her all at once. She nodded along but didn't catch any of it. Then they were back to screaming at the TV. When the next commercial break flashed up on screen, Seeley turned to her and asked,

"Where are the chips?"

By the time the game ended and Lucy called them up for dinner, Tempe was talking just as heatedly about the game. Mark had tried in vain to convert her to his team, but a simple analysis of the statistics they flashed up told Tempe that the Booths' team was better by far. The scoreboard agreed.

The dinner was wonderful. Everyone talked, laughed, and ate themselves sick. Even before she was fifteen, her family had never had a Thanksgiving dinner this big and rowdy, but she liked it. Washing dishes was filled with even more discussion of the game and took forever because Seeley, hands covered in suds and dripping, would frequently turn from the sink to gesticulate wildly as he explained a concept, and Jared ran off to find his white board, and Mark fled at some point, and Greg and Tom were trying to show her what the different passing patterns were in the overcrowded kitchen while drying the dishes, which led to some close calls. There was one incident when Jared came back and decided that a plate made an acceptable replacement for a football, but Seely snatched it out of the air before Greg had to choose between the plate flying at his head and the three in his arms.

By the time they were done, it was nearly 6:00, but nobody was ready to think about food.

"We'll eat something late while we're watching the highlight reel." Seeley told her. The entire family packed into three cars and drove ten minutes to a park. Lisa sat on a blanket with Ben and Chris and Kelsey, and the rest of the group divided along gender lines and marked their touchdown zones. The boys won the toss and got the ball first. Jared was the quarterback.

"Hut!" he yelled. The ball went to Seeley and Tempe ran after him. She threw herself at his legs and he went down.

"OW! Jeez, Bones, what are you doing?" he complained.

"I – you had the ball."

"We're playing touch football, Bones. You tag the person with the ball." He wiggled his hands.

"Oh. Oops." She tagged him.

"Not now!" he laughed. The next time Tempe got near the ball, Parker had it. She scooped him up and started carrying him back down the field.

"Hey! No fair!" he complained.

"No?" she tickled him. He squirmed and laughed. The girls won, despite the best efforts of the boys. Lilah scored three touchdowns and forced two fumbles. Mark was really not having a good day, but he laughed through it. Not as much as everyone else, but that wasn't the point.

A/N: Me again. There's only two more chapters, but then I have several different epilogues that could possibly work together but would be very long. Let me know what you want.


	20. Endings and Beginnings

Endings and Beginnings

Tempe was painfully aware that the weekend was coming to an end and she hated the thought. So did Seeley, but neither revealed their reluctance to get back to the 'real world' to the other. The next day was full of goodbyes. Lilah and Mark had a late flight, and Lucy and Greg lived only an hour and a half away, Jared and Alice an hour past that, so Tempe and Booth and Parker were the first to leave. He parted from his cousins reluctantly, and Tempe hugged everyone and exchanged email and phone numbers and Lucy did her best to elicit a promise of a Christmastime visit.

"If I can." Tempe answered non-comittally.

"We'd like to see you again." Tom said.

"Maybe you two will be next?" Lisa suggested, looking at Alice's ring. Seeley just smiled and hugged her.

"Bye, Mom."

The car was quiet until they stopped for lunch.

"Tempe, can you come over next weekend?" Parker asked quietly.

"Uh-," she looked at his dad for permission. He misinterpreted it.

"You're with your mom next weekend, buddy, remember? Cause I got you twice as long this time."

"Oh, right. Well, what about the one after that?" his eyes pleaded with Tempe.

"Dr. Brennan's really busy, bud." Seeley tried again.

"I'm never too busy for my go-kart buddy." Tempe smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Yea!" he cheered. "Can I go play now?" he indicated the plastic structure with the M displayed prominently. They both nodded.

"You sure?" he asked when Parker was gone. She nodded.

"If that's okay with you, I mean. I don't want to intrude – I know you don't get that much time with him…" she trailed off uncomfortably.

"You're always welcome with us." He covered her hand with his and squeezed gently. She blushed and looked for Parker.

"It would be impossible not to love him." She said.

"Yeah." He agreed, but he wasn't looking at the play structure.

The quiet in the car was more comfortable after lunch and less melancholy, interrupted intermittently by conversation. They dropped Tempe off first, and she opened the side door to give Parker a hug goodbye before meeting Booth at the trunk. She didn't even bother refusing his help, and he didn't try to stop her from taking a bag.

"Sit tight, okay, buddy?" he called to Parker, who agreed. He clicked the power lock before following Tempe upstairs.

"Thanks." She said as he put down her bags in the living room.

"You'll have to get a TV now. For the football." He said. Suddenly talking to his friend and partner was awkward and forced.

"Yeah." She forced a chuckle and agreed.

"I left Parker in the car." He said, looking for a quick exit. "Thanks again. For doing this." He sidled out the door, inching away.

"I think I should be thanking you, Seeley." She said, fiddling with the doorknob.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, yeah. But – um – Angela, she would probably get the wrong idea from this, so,"

"Yeah, right, we, uh, keep it a secret."

"Right."

"Okay."

"See ya." He smiled and took a step backwards.

"Bye." She said, and impulsively took a step forward to kiss him on the cheek. Face burning, she shut the door quickly and leaned against it to listen to his slow footsteps down the hall.

A/N: So you got your kiss (sort of). One more chapter to go.


	21. Sewage and Baby Pictures

Sewage and Baby Pictures

She arrived early the next morning and cheerfully greeted each member of the team as they entered.

"Good weekend, sweetie?" Angela asked.

"It was okay." She looked up from her latest set of bones. "I think I fell in love with football." She smiled. Angela nodded.

"That it?"

"What?"

"That's all you're in love with?"

"Well, I really liked his family. They were sweet."

"And him?"

"Um – yeah, I guess so."

"Sweetie, you don't guess that you love someone."

"Tempe!" a juvenile voice screamed. She turned just in time to catch the little boy who flung himself at her. His father hurried behind, swiping his card to stop the alarm.

"What did I say about screaming and running?" he asked Parker, lowering his face to his son's level.

"Um, they're bad?"

"Yeah. And what happens if you're bad?"

"I have to go to the stinky school?'

"Right." The agent stood.

"School's cancelled!" Parker said to Brennan with no visible loss of enthusiasm, then turned to the table. "Are these real bones?"

"Yes, and they're very delicate." She said, moving him back a few inches from the table. "School's cancelled?" she asked Booth. Angela watched with a growing grin.

"Not really. The sewage is backed up but they're still having classes in the upper floors. I told Rebecca there was no way I was letting Parker go to a school filled with sewage, so she said I could figure out what to do with him."

"Daddy says if you say I can then I can stay with you and look at bones and bugs and robots and stuff!" Parker turned back to the anthropologist. "Please?" his eyes grew wide.

"Well, Parker, I was away all weekend and I have lots of work to do and," his lower lip quivered and his eyes started to shine. "And – and you would be welcome to stay with me." she caved.

"Just until I can find a babysitter."

"Yeah, like that'll happen." Angela said. The three looked at her with surprise, having forgotten she was there. "So how was your weekend, Parker?"

"It was awesome! We," Booth covered his son's mouth with a hand.

"Maybe you can go see Zach, Parker, while Tempe and I talk about grown up things."

"So how was the weekend with the FBI agent Andy?" Angela asked. "Or was it a publisher named Bart?"

"What?"

"Tempe is two-timing your friend Andy, the 'stand-up' FBI agent with Bart the publisher."

"Angela, it's not what you think. She took the phone from me because I was driving and then my mother invited her, and she's one of those scary mothers you can't say no to like in movies and TV shows and things,"

"Right. Uh-huh. Okay then, Bart."

"Way to sell out." Tempe threw at him.

"Bart?" he shot back.

"Andy?"

"Your publisher?"

"Hey! I still have the baby pictures!" she brandished the cell phone.

"This is too easy." Angela said to herself.

"Hello, people?" Cam entered with Zach and Parker in tow. "Am I missing something? Have we opened a day care centre?"

"Parker's school got flooded with sewage." Tempe explained.

"And she didn't even know what Mario was. Or football!" Parker continued obliviously to Zach, who looked cowed.

"Sorry, Camille. I was just dropping by and I was about to take Parker to a babysitter's."

"Where are you going to take him?" Tempe asked him with hands on hips.

"Yeah, Bart." Angela seconded with a giggle.

"Do you want to see the baby pictures or not?' Tempe asked her. The artist mimed zipping her lips.

"Baby pictures?" Cam asked. "As in, baby pictures of Seeley?" Booth glared at Tempe. "Zach, go back to whatever you were doing." She said, waving a latex glove dismissively. "Miss Montenegro, Dr. Brennan, I think we should have lunch together."

"Agreed!" said Angela with a grin.

"Okay." Tempe said, with an apologetic shrug to Booth, who threw up his hands in defeat and disgust as Cam walked away.

"Whipped." Hodgins coughed, walking by. Angela cleared her throat. "Which is in no way a bad thing!" he continued. "Coming?" he asked Angela. She did, leaving Booth and Brennan alone.

"I have to get to work." He said. "I'll be back to pick up Parker."

"Okay. I'll get something delivered if you have to work late. Or I could take him home."

"Whatever. But I'll try and wrap it up early."

"Maybe you could join us?"

"Sounds good." He nodded. "I'll call later."

"Okay."

"Bye."

"See ya later."


	22. Epilogue: Can't Get Enough

Can't Get Enough

Thanksgiving, 2010

"There's your daddy. See him? He's playing football. You'll learn about football from the moment you can walk, I'm sure." The Booth men, Katherine, back from her first year of university, Susanna and Margaret, in junior high but tomboys if there ever was one, and Lilah, were playing football in the backyard. Tempe stood on the sidelines and watched Ben, Chris and Kelsey crawling carefully around the blanket, holding another infant, Lily.

"A girl?" Parker had said doubtfully when he heard the news. "Aw. I'd rather it were a boy."

"Sorry, kiddo." Tempe had said. "It's kinda hard to pick and choose."

"Thanks." Lucy said, bringing her back to the present. "Mom still doesn't trust you or Alice in the kitchen. Sorry."

"That's okay. I'll take any chance I can get to play with Lily."

"And another Booth on the way."

"I know!"

"Are you talking about me?" a very pregnant Alice asked, coming out of the house with the bowl of salad she couldn't be trusted to make alone.

"About TJ." Lucy corrected, taking her daughter from Brennan. The ultrasounds told them that Parker was getting his wish. The name, which stood for Thomas Jared, was Alice's idea.

"Wash up, guys!" Tempe called.

"Do I have to?" Parker asked.

"What do you think?" she asked. He stuck his tongue out at her and then crossed his arms sullenly as he walked into the house. She made a face back and he couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Yeah, do I have to?" Seeley whined.

"Depends."

"On what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." He rolled his eyes and followed his son into the house. It had been three years since her first Thanksgiving with the Booth family and she still couldn't get enough of them.

A/N: Okay, so as of right now I'm thinking I'll post the rest of what I've got seperately. There's a completed long one-shot set when BB are together and Parker's mid-teens, and a (shorter) multi-chap half-done about their proposal and marriage in which the family figures strongly again. If anyone's interested in helping me with that one, I've sort of hit a wall and a fresh writer might do it some good. I've also got an idea about Brennan going back for Christmas (and them getting together), but nothing good's been written yet.

Thanks for all your support. It's been a (wonderfully) overwhelming welcome to the site. If you're interested in co-writing something, please PM me.


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